Seven-time Pro Bowler and new Chicago Bears tackle Orlando Pace feels comfortable and healthy for the first time in years. "When you're released as a player, you want to go out and prove that you can still do it, and I think that was my situation," Pace said. "I wanted to come out here and prove that I can still play at a high level and do it for years and without any setbacks. So I'm excited about the opportunity."

Marvin Harrison's first venture into the NFL's free-agent market has entered its seventh week, and there are no indications the former Indianapolis Colts standout receiver is close to a deal. "I'm not surprised," said Charley Casserly, a former general manager with the Houston Texans and Washington Redskins who is an analyst with NFL Network. "When I watch him as a player and look at the package, he's not going to get any better at this point in his career.

Make way for the wild cards. The Philadelphia Eagles and the Baltimore Ravens, who both earned playoff berths as the sixth seed in their respective conferences, could face off in the first-ever matchup of wild cards in Super Bowl XLIII .

Quarterback Eli Manning was being cast as too easygoing to be a great leader. Old-school coach Tom Coughlin had been under fire for being too harsh. And the New York Giants had the look of a good but not great team as they entered last year's playoffs. No more.

Peter Magowan recently made his rounds through the dugout and several fans stopped him to offer their best wishes and thanks for what he's done during nearly two decades running the San Francisco Giants.

The price of the new football stadium for the New York Giants and New York Jets has risen by $600 million to $1.4 billion. "Costs continue to go up," said Alice McGillion, a spokeswoman for New Meadowlands Stadium Corp., a company that represents the team owners.

The Carolina Panthers hired former New York Giants defensive coordinator Tim Lewis as their new secondary coach Friday. Lewis, who was fired by the Giants last week, replaces Rod Perry, one of three Panthers' coaches fired Monday. Lewis was the first assistant hired when Tom Coughlin took over the Giants in 2004.

If three hours of NBC's Today clicks with viewers, why not try a fourth? That's the thinking at NBC News, which plans to announce today that its three-hour morning franchise will expand to the 10 a.m. ET/PT hour in September and focus on entertainment, with contributors such as Billy Bush and Maria Menounos of NBC-owned Access Hollywood.

Former Giants trainer Stan Conte was hired Friday by the Dodgers as and head trainer. Conte spent 15 years in San Francisco, the last seven as head trainer. He dealt with several of Barry Bonds' health problems, including the slugger's three operations on his right knee in 2005.